Professor Dietrich Kappeler

Over the course of 50 years, Prof. Dietrich Kappeler trained thousands of diplomats and officials, from ambassadors and to complete novices, from both the richest and the poorest countries in the world. He established numerous diplomatic training institutions of which Diplo is the last in this line.

We, at Diplo, are particularly honoured to have benefited from Prof. Kappeler’s rich experience. He inspired Diplo by focusing on two elements: innovation and tradition. While we were innovating, through the use of the Internet and ICT, we took care to base our work on the best parts of traditional diplomacy. The marriage of these two elements form the basis of DiploFoundation today.

Prof. Kapperer has written numerous articles; he has spoken at many conferences. It would be difficult to find any one person with such a broad and diverse experience in the field of diplomatic training. And amidst his lasting legacy to diplomacy one word keeps cropping up: persuasion.

Persuasion, the essence of diplomacy is the theme that Prof. Kappeler selected for his Farewell symposium. This website will showcase contributions from his colleagues, students, and those interested in the subject.

DiploFoundation

Towards more inclusive and effective diplomacy

Diplo is a non-profit foundation established by the governments of Malta and Switzerland. Diplo works to increase the role of small and developing states, and to improve global governance and international policy development.